Tucker Carlson referred to President Donald Trump as a “total piece of s***” in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, newly-released documents have revealed.
The detail was included in filings made by the voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic as part of its lawsuit against Fox News, Carlson’s former employer, from whom it is seeking $2.7 billion in damages over its coverage of the company in the explosive fallout of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
Fox previously settled a similar lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in April 2023, with Carlson leaving the right-wing network several months later, having been one of its most popular primetime anchors.
Responding to the release of the documents Sunday, which include messages sent by other leading company figures like Rupert Murdoch, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo, Fox said in a statement: “The evidence shows that Smartmatic’s business and reputation were badly suffering long before any claims by President Trump’s lawyers on Fox News and that Smartmatic grossly inflated its damage claims to generate headlines and chill free speech.
“Now, in the aftermath of Smartmatic being criminally charged with bribery in the Philippines and the government’s motion to include evidence of Smartmatic’s business dealings in Venezuela and Los Angeles County, we are eager and ready to continue defending our press freedoms.”
Smartmatic told The Independent that the latest developments in the case represent “an important victory for Smartmatic as we progress in our efforts to hold Fox accountable for its lies. The court made clear that Fox’s attempts to delay accountability won’t work, and its day of reckoning is coming.
“By keeping the litigation on track, the ruling ensures the focus remains on Fox knowingly lying to its viewers without care for the damage and destruction those lies would cause. We look forward to presenting the full truth at trial.”
Among the new tranche of filings is an exchange involving Carlson, first reported by The Guardian, dating from November 9, 2020, in which an unidentified individual tells him that, in their opinion, Trump ought to concede defeat and abandon his false claims that the election was stolen in a vast, nationwide conspiracy orchestrated by Democrats.
“Oh, I’m fully aware,” Carlson is recorded as replying, referring to the Republican president as a “total piece of s***” and adding: “We can’t control him obviously. Got to do the responsible thing regardless of how he behaves.”
In another exchange, Hannity is reportedly found complaining about Carlson for criticizing Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who famously styled herself “The Kraken,” over her claims that the vote was hacked.
“His problem,” Hannity is said to have written, likening his colleague to disgraced former star anchor Bill O’Reilly, known for his independent streak. “Classic oreilly move. May be too clever by half. Trump people are p***ed.”
According to Mediaite, the documents further reveal that ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon urged Bartiromo to run for the Senate in her native New York and that the late Fox host Lou Dobbs complained that Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, now out of favor with Trump and resigning from Congress, had been “blackballed” by the network.
Dominion’s earlier lawsuit against Fox yielded several similar insider details, including finding Carlson referring to Trump as a “demonic force” within national politics.
“He’s the undisputed world champion of that,” Carlson texted his Fox producers, according to documents filed in the case. “He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong,” he added, calling the then-outgoing president “a demonic force, a destroyer.”
Carlson nevertheless spoke at several Trump rallies at the tail-end of his triumphant 2024 presidential election campaign and was recently defended by the president over the uproar that followed his interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
